Sports

My gran= dson Eddie McClain = Getting back in the game

By Matt Tait, S= ports Editor

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 <= /p>

The whole thing seemed like a cruel joke.

As if sitting on the bench= in street clothes for his team's final 15 games of the regular season wasn't h= arsh enough, this had to push Eddie McClain past the boiling point.

Last Thursday, in the Brav= es' first-round sub-state game at Lansing High School, McClain, the Braves seni= or center who missed January and February with a broken wrist, finally traded = in those street clothes for his old uniform.

With 1:49 remaining in the= first quarter of the Braves' 36-35 victory over the Lions, BSHS coach Ryan Hull instructed M= cClain to check in.

"He was quick to get up," Hull said. "You could tell he was itching to get in."

As he walked to the scorer= 's table to report his number, the BSHS fans that sat behind the Braves' bench cheer= ed loudly. It was as if a favorite son had returned home.

By the time the next dead = ball arrived, the clock read 1:42. McClain took the floor.

Five seconds later, he was= back on the bench.

"The refs said there = can't be any kind of hard brace from the elbow down," Hull said. "So they said he couldn= 't wear it because it had a metal plate in it."

The minor setback did litt= le to deter McClain's enthusiasm when he finally checked back in again at the 4:41 mark of the second quarter. This time, with gobs of athletic foam and white tape protecting the brace, McClain made an impact.

On the Braves first offens= ive possession with No. 45 back on the floor, they wasted no time getting him t= he ball. After coming around a pick at the free throw line, McClain dashed down the lane, caught the ball in stride and laid it off the glass for two point= s.

The bucket gave the Braves= an 11-10 lead with 4:22 to play in the first half. Considering the outcome of = the game was decided by a single point, McClain's first basket since December w= as meaningful.

But the man they call "Sticks" wasn't finished there. With 1:45 to play in the first ha= lf, Lansing's Jeff Ja= ckson posted up on McClain, who played tight defense behind the bulky forward. Af= ter absorbing a couple of Jackson<= /st1:place>'s post moves, McClain challenged the shot, boxed out and ripped down the rebo= und.

Before the night was over,= McClain recorded stats in two more categories. Midway through the third quarter he delivered one of his signature blocked shots out of the Braves' 2-3 zone defense. Early in the fourth, he stepped in front of an errant pass for a steal.

For the night, he finished= with 2 points -- on 1-of-3 shooting -- 1 rebound, 1 block and 1 steal. Small numbe= rs, to be sure, but McClain's return to the lineup had a big impact.

"Emotionally, it was = great for our guys to see him back on the floor," Hull said.

McClain wasn't even medica= lly cleared to play until the morning of the Lansing game. At his Thursday morning appointment, McClain's doctor told him to drop down and do some push-ups to prove that his wrist was stable.

"His mom said he was = nearly as long as the room and he dropped down and did as many as it took," <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Hull said.

Two nights after the first= -round victory, McClain received the final start of his career in the sub-state championship game against High= land Park. Ironically, McClain was put into the starting lineup because of an ankle injury to junior LT Lee. It was just that kind of year for the Bonner Springs boys.

The Braves were overmatche= d in their final game of the season and McClain was held scoreless. He did log t= hree rebounds in the 83-43 loss, but the stats he gathered in his final two games weren't the reason his teammates were happy to have him back.

"It was great to have= Eddie out there again," BSHS senior Anthony Brown said. "We needed him.= We could've used him all season. We finally had our full squad out there."= ;

With his high school athle= tic career coming to a close, McClain will shift his focus to track and field, where he hopes to break the school's high jump record.

Fortunately, he won't need= his wrist to do it, and when he lands, he will plop softly onto a padded platfo= rm.